The present invention relates generally to the assembly of wire harnesses, and more particularly, to an improved method and an apparatus for assembling wire harnesses in which opposite ends of sets of adjacent sets of electrical wires are terminated to connector elements.
Wire harnesses and cable assemblies are used in numerous consumer electronic products, such as televisions and computers. Wire harnesses are also used in many other applications, such as automobiles and industrial controls. Wire harnesses may take a variety of forms, ranging from a single wire interconnecting two connector elements to a "multiple" wire harness in which multiple wires extend between opposing connectors or sets of connector housings.
Although wire harnesses may be assembled manually, automated production of wire harnesses is preferred from a cost and efficiency standpoint. It is desirable to manufacture multiple wire harnesses by terminating multiple harnesses as a whole, rather than terminating each harness individually. Wire harnesses are typically assembled in automated production by attaching, or terminating connectors to opposing free ends of wires. When terminating multiple harnesses, termination of the opposing wire ends is sometimes performed sequentially at two different, but opposing, locations. This may involve assembling the wire harness components along a single work path, such as advancing wires to a first termination location, terminating first connector elements to a first set of free ends of the harness wires at the first termination location to form a partial wire harness assembly, advancing the partial wire harness assemblies along the workpath to a second termination location, then terminating second connector elements to second free wire ends which lie opposite the first free wire ends. This process is sequentially repeated for each wire harness. In order to accelerate production, it is desirable that while the second connector elements are terminated to the second free wire ends, the first connector elements of a subsequent wire harness are terminated to their associated first wire free ends.
Conventional wire harness assembly processes, as represented by the prior art, place the two termination station along a workpath which is the same as the wire feedpath. This linear production path arrangement poses at least one problem in termination of multiple wire harnesses, in that the harness wires must be transferred along the workpath from the first termination location to the second termination location, which may lead to disorder of the second ends of the wires as they are transferred to the second termination location for termination.
Methods and apparatus for the assembly of wire harnesses, and particularly multiple wire harnesses, are known in the prior art. Typically, one or more connector housings are forwarded from a supply of connector housings into position for termination to one end of the harness wires, and the connector housings are subsequently terminated to the wire ends. The wires are then advanced to define a desired length for the wire harness, and a second set of connector housings are then terminated thereto. The termination of the first and second connector housings is commonly performed in serial order, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,908, issued May 9, 1978 to the assignee of the present application. Wires are advanced along a path into engagement with a first connector housing, the first connector housing is terminated to the first wire end, the wire is further advanced and cut to define a second end, which is then terminated to a second connector housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,188, issued Jul. 23, 1991, describes a wire harness assembly process in which wires are fed into a cut and strip assembly and then terminated to a first connector. The wires are further advanced down a processing line where a second connector housing is applied to the wire loose ends and terminated thereto. Although this method and the previously described apparatus are sufficient to terminate connector to opposing wire ends and form wire harnesses, the serial order of the two termination steps limits the speed at which the harnesses may be fabricated.
It is therefore desirable to maintain the order of multiple harness wires as they are transferred between termination locations in a harness-making machine such that the wires are terminated to the second connector elements in their desired order. It also becomes desirable to provide a transfer mechanism utilizable in the termination of multiple wires which protects the unterminated wire ends as they are transferred from the first termination location to the second termination location.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an apparatus and method in which opposing first and second ends of adjacent wire harness sets are terminated in the same step, which increases the speed of fabrication of the harnesses. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved wire fabrication apparatus which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a multiple wire harness assembly apparatus having a feed assembly suitable for use in conjunction with a wire harness assembly which is adapted to feed and separate multiple connectors from multiple supplies of interconnected connectors, an indexing assembly which positions a row of first connectors in position for termination, a wire feed assembly for advancing multiple wires into contact with the array of first connectors, a first termination assembly which terminates the array of first connectors to a first set of multiple wire loose ends, a second termination assembly which terminates an array of second connectors to a set of second wire ends, and a transfer assembly which transfers the set of multiple wires between the first and second termination assemblies, while maintaining the order of the wires.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for assembling multiple wire harnesses in which distinct arrays of first and second connectors are terminated to opposite ends of multiple harness wires, the termination occurring along a common line of action, whereby while one set of wires are being terminated to an array of first connectors, an adjacent set of wires which have previously been terminated to an array of first connector housings is terminated to a second array of connectors, the terminated wire harnesses further moving along a conveyance path which is offset from the path of wire feeding.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wire harness fabrication apparatus having two termination stations arranged in side-by-side order, each termination station having a connector feed supply station associated therewith, the connector feed supply stations further being spaced apart from each other on opposite sides of the apparatus, wherein a first array of connectors is supplied along a first harness track into registration with a reciprocating nest assembly which shuttles the first array of connector housings into registration within the first termination station, the first termination station including means for cutting first ends of a series of multiple wires fed therethrough, the nest moving back to the connector supply track after the first array of connectors are terminated, the second termination station being disposed adjacent to the first termination station, the apparatus further including a transfer assembly which clamps loose ends of the wires.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a wire harness assembly apparatus in which successive arrays of first connector are fed to a first termination station to form successive partially terminated wire-connector assemblies which are then transferred to a second termination station, the second termination station terminating a second array of connectors to second ends of harness wires while simultaneously terminating a successive first array of connectors to a successive set of harness wires, the first and second arrays of connectors being advanced along feed paths which are transverse to a wire feed path.